Owls go for two consecutive Saturday

Published 6:00 pm, Tuesday, November 18, 2003

The Rice football team will go for its first two-game winning streak of the season this Saturday when the Owls host University of TexasEl Paso at Rice Stadium, starting at 2 p.m.

The Owls won their third game of the season last Saturday with a 41-20 triumph over winless Southern Methodist University in Dallas and now face the Miners, who stand 2-9 on the year and fell 51-21 last Saturday to Western Athletic Conference leader Boise State in Idaho.

There has been a lot written and said over the past two months about the youth of the Rice football team, but the Miners have only five seniors on their roster and head Coach Gary Nord says that has played a role in their struggles this year.

Right now, when we travel, were taking about 50 underclassmen, says Nord. When I got here, we had a five-year plan. Right now, were in our fourth year. We feel like weve got a good junior class and a good sophomore class coming, but right now, with just five seniors, its tough to find that leadership you sometimes need when things start going bad. The seniors we have are good football players; therere just not many of them. And three of those five seniors are offensive linemen, while the other two are reserves.

Rice head Coach Ken Hatfield says that much youth can work two ways.

Sometimes when you have a lot of seniors and things go bad, they just want to get it over with, says Hatfield. When you have young kids, theyre still fighting and playing hard. When I look at UTEP, I see a team that flies around defensively and is executing offensively, so it looks like their young guys are playing hard and improving and thats what you look for when you have a young football team.

On defense is where the Miners have had most of their problems.

They have allowed 430 points in 11 games. They have also given up 176 points the last three weeks in losses to Tulsa, San Jose State and Boise State.

The Owls and their vaunted option offense clicked against SMU to the tune of 300 yards on the ground, but quarterbacks Kyle Herm and Greg Henderson combined to go 7-of-10 in the passing department for 221 yards. Tight end Ben Wiggins was the top recipient, hauling in three passes for 168 yards. Two of those went for touchdowns, including an 82-yard first quarter, catch-and-run, the second longest pass play in school history. Those numbers made Wiggins the WAC Offensive Player of the Week.

Ben is a great story. Hes what college football is all about, says Hatfield. He came to school on a track scholarship as a hurdler. But he wanted to play football so bad, he dropped his track scholarship and became a walk-on on the football team. He paid his own way and now hes on scholarship and were glad to have him. He puts in extra work after practice and its paying off for him.

The Owls end the year next Saturday in Ruston when they play Louisiana Tech. Rice stands 3-7 overall and 3-3 in the WAC.